


The truth is ... I am The Arrow

by Actually_Felicity_Smoak



Series: YouTube AU [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, Season 2 spoilers, season1 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actually_Felicity_Smoak/pseuds/Actually_Felicity_Smoak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver fights against those who would manipulate him, by taking away their ammunition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friday, 16:00:00 EST

**Author's Note:**

> I've been brainstorming ways to solve the problem at the end of Season 3. This is by far the most audacious solution I've thought of.

Pretty much everyone in Starling City remembers where they were when they first saw it. The TV called it “breaking news” and played the full video, but half the city had already seen it by then, the link passed from phone to phone, spread across Facebook, YouTube’s view counter jumping up by triple digits each minute.  In the warehouse where I worked, all work had stopped; everyone had gathered into the tiny office, watching the video over and over. 

 

“My name is Oliver Queen. And I am The Arrow.”

The camera panned out to show what was behind the ex-billionaire. And what was behind him was any military nerd’s wet dream: racks of arrows, with a high-tech compound bow in the middle. A glass case with a mannequin wearing only a black mask. Lab benches with scientific equipment. A triple-monitor computer set-up. Workout equipment.  All beautifully lit with powerful overhead lights. 

Queen himself was in … you know. The suit. The outfit.  The green leather, and the hood. Only the mask was gone, and the hood was pulled back. 

“As you know, I was missing and presumed dead for 5 years.  What you don’t know is why, and what happened during those 5 years” 

There was an agonizing 3-second pause while Queen looked away from the camera and swallowed, hard.  The first time I watched the vid, I didn’t breathe during those few seconds. My thoughts weren’t even coherent; the only word I could form in my mind was  WHAT?!

“As you know, my mother was complicit in an Undertaking to destroy the Glades. What you don’t know..” He paused again, and took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was much smaller, almost broken. “... is that my father, Robert Queen, was the first to join the Undertaking.”

Queen looked back at the camera, finally, his expression hard to read.  “My father had second thoughts. He wanted to leave Merlyn’s circles; to stop the Undertaking. Because of that, his boat was sabotaged by those who saw his change of heart as a betrayal. 

Nearly everyone on that boat died. My father gave his life to save me, and to explain that he’d failed the city, and to beg me to right his wrongs. But he didn’t live long enough to actually explain what the Undertaking was; only to pass on the list of names of people involved.”

Another pause, shorter this time, as Queen looked away. This time he didn’t resume eye contact, but looked down, as if … ashamed. 

“After five years in hell, I came back with only one goal: to save my city. But I didn’t know from what. I found people on the list; I learned what corrupt practices they’d been involved in; I tried to get them to right their wrongs. But I didn’t know there was more. I didn’t know…”

Queen closed his eyes, and it looked like he was … fighting back tears? 

“We found out about the earthquake machine only a few days before the Undertaking. We found the location of one, and got it disabled, but we couldn’t get to the other one in time.”  Queen finally looked up, and I swear to God it looked like he was looking right at me.  “I am  _so_ _sorry_. I am so sorry I couldn’t do more. My family caused that devastation, and I couldn’t stop it.” 

 

When I watched the video the second or third time, I realized there was a long pause after that -- about 15 seconds.  But the first time through, I didn’t notice. I was still trying to process everything he’d said when he started speaking again. 

“I couldn’t tell anyone who I was or what I was doing. It was my own circles who were committing the crimes. My parents were members of the conspiracy; my best friend’s father was the head of it.  I had to hide my identity, or I’d never have been able to stop even what I was able to. So I wore the hood, and I I did my best. 

I’m not a hero. I’m just a guy in a hood, trying to fight evil with the only tools I have. But they aren’t the best tools, and I’m not the best fighter. 

Some of you in the Glades were there last month when I commended you for not failing this city.  But for the most part, this job doesn’t allow for a lot of public speaking. So I’ve never had the opportunity to say thank you.

To all our police officers, who fought to protect the citizens of Starling against those who would hurt them.

To all the lawyers and judges who tried to stop the corrupt elite from killing the city legally.

To all of you who helped people escape on the night of the earthquake.

To everyone who took in neighbors or fed the homeless.

To the doctors who treated the injured even when Glades Memorial couldn’t get medicine. 

To those who helped strangers hide or escape from the masked terrorists last year. 

To those who stood up against Brickwell’s attempted take-over. 

To those who have stayed, and fought, and worked to make Starling a better place. 

You are the heros. You are the ones doing the only worthwhile work in this world. I only hope that I have, in some small way, possibly made your work easier. 

Thank you, Starling. Good night.”

 


	2. Reactions

“Do you think it’s true?”  
“Of course it’s true. Why the hell would he lie?”  
“Lots of people have claimed to be The Arrow before.”  
“Yeah, but never with his costume on and his bow in the background.”  
“Isn’t his voice supposed to be a lot deeper though?”  
“It’s probably part of his disguise.”

 

No more work got done in the warehouse that day. I’m not sure any work got done anywhere in the city. Certainly everywhere _I_ went -- at the grocery store, at the gas station, at the bar -- all people were doing was talking about the video.  

 

“Well that’s it, then.”

“Do you think they’ve arrested him yet?”

“Why would they arrest him??”

“Dude, he’s killed 8 people in the last 4 days.”

“He didn’t kill them. It was a copy cat.”

“You have seriously _no way_ of knowing that.”

“Why would he go on _YouTube_ and _announce his name_ if he was a recent murderer?”

“Look, I don’t know how a murderer thinks.”

 

The big question, of course, was _What does that mean?_ Somehow the question of Arrow’s virtue, of whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy, seemed a lot more pressing when we had a face to put with the questions.

 

“Even if the recent ones are a copycat, he’s still a killer. He killed at least half a dozen people two years ago.”

“You really gonna cry over the deaths of rich assholes that were plotting to kill us?”

“Course not, but you can’t just go around killing people. The law is the law.”

 

Queen, of course, was nowhere to be found. Rumors swirled: that he had left town shortly after the video was posted. That he’d left town two weeks ago. That he was in disguise, invisible, listening to our conversations at the very moment.  That he was hiding out in his lair, which was in his family’s mansion. That his lair was in the Glades, perhaps under our very feet. That it was in the basement of his family’s office building, and for the last 8 months he’d been sneaking past security guards to get there.  Without a direct source to question, people turned to analyzing the video.

 

“You remember how it was two years ago. The law wasn’t working. Remember when Jason Brodeur was let off scot-free?”  
“He specifically _thanked_ the lawyers.”  
A pause, and some fast-forwarding.  
“He specifically thanked the lawyers _who tried to stop them_. You know damn well there were plenty of lawyers trying to help those bastards fuck us over.”

“I don’t care about any of the onepercenter shitheads he killed, but there’s 503 deaths he should have to answer for.”  
“He didn’t cause those.  He stopped there from being 503 more.”  
“Actually, it’s very likely the two machines would have worked synergistically. If both devices had been allowed to operate, the death toll would probably have been in the tens of thousands.”  
That was from a quiet kid with glasses, sitting in the corner. After a moment to either digest his statement, or wait to see if he’d pop out with any other interruption, the conversation continued unabated.

“Well someone oughta whip his ass until he’s sorry, at least.”  
“He did apologize.”  
“You think I’m gonna take a Queen seriously when they’re on screen?”  
“I dunno man, he does look pretty sorry.”  
Some rewinding, and some frame-by-frame advancing.

“You remember how his mom looked, during her trial? 503 counts of manslaughter, and she looked calm as a mountain lake. No expression at all, no matter what was going on.”  
“He’s certainly got expression.  He’s upset. He does look sorry.”

“What about this part? He looks like my kid after he’s been arrested again.”  
“Ashamed, yeah. Like you’re gonna yell at him.”  
“Maybe Moira wasn’t always so calm around her kids…”

 

Eventually, as any human endeavor always does, it turned into storytelling.

 

“I was in the hospital when they finally got the medicine again. Only a kidney infection, but there ain’t jack-all modern medicine can do about it if you ain’t got antibiotics. Saved my life, him gettin’ that shipment through.”

“That was a bad time. Frank got killed, just walking home from work, by that Hood gang. Guess they thought he looked too well-off. Queen’s the one that inspired the copycats; that’s gotta give him some responsibility.”

“My daughter usedta be hooked on Vertigo. She was tryna quit, but the shit was too easy to get -- they was practically forcing it in your pocket, ya remember? Anyone takes the Count down is good in my book.”

“d’you hear about the guy that was targeting firefighters? Apparently one of their families took the problem to The Arrow, and he managed to stop the guy.”

“Oh, man, remember Blood’s unity rally? Cop friend of mine said there were actually four bombs there. The guy had the detonator in his hand, and the Arrow severed his tendon to prevent him pushing the button.”

“Oh, speaking of Blood, did you know that it was Queen who sponsored his gun drive? It was supposed to be kept quiet, but my brother-in-law was volunteering there, and he overheard Sebastian mentioning it.”  
“Huh. Finally a good use for all of that money.”

“Remember that jewel thief they caught couple years ago? Apparently the Arrow caught him when he stole a necklace the Queen family donated to a charity auction.”  
“I wonder if put it there as bait?”  
“I wonder if his mom knew about him givin’ away the family jewels.”

“What about the little girl? Thea? I heard she ran bad while he was gone, an’ she’s been better since he got back.”  
“If you call running with a mugger from the Glades ‘better’”  
“Really? Thea Queen, dating someone from the Glades?”  
“Yeah; friend of my daughter’s. Harper, I think. Roy Harper.”  
“Maybe they aren’t as snobby as I thought.”  
“Losin’ all your money will do that to you.”

“Still think it’s suspicious, the Arrow showing up and then all these masked terrorists running around.”  
“If Queen’s the Arrow, though, he suffered hard enough through all of that. Lost his money; sister got kidnapped; mother killed - brutally, from what I’ve heard.”

 

But the big question, at the end of the day -- at the end of any day -- is _What do we do about it? How will it affect me?_ You never know when a day will be life-changing; you only see it in retrospect.

 

“He’s worked overtime to stop these criminals; I’ll give you that.”

“And Starling’s better for it, mostly.”

“We gotta long way to go before I feel safe in these streets.”  
“So what are you doing about it?”

“Huh?”

“You heard him. He’s only one guy. Wacko in a hood can’t solve all our problems.”

“You think I can?”

“I think we can make it better. There’s a meeting tonight -- one of the gals in our apartment wants to set up the up a neighborhood watch for the building. Keep the kids safe, you know?”

“I better go too. Friend of mine wants to get an early start tomorrow -- he’s trying to start a coffee shop over on 4th and Grant. Might create a couple jobs, if he can get it running.”

“Hey, lemme know when it opens; I’ll stop by. Better than giving my money to Starbucks. Maybe I can feed a family with my caffeine addiction.”

“Will do, man.”

“Thanks. Good Night.”

  
  



	3. Prologue

“Felicity? What is… YouTube?”

Felicity looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow.

“YouTube is the kind of thing that you ask your personal internet researcher to do for you.” Felicity flashed her bright, helpful-IT-person smile. “What’s up?”

“Well, it’s just…um.. Laurel mentioned..that she thinks we might be going about this the wrong way.”

“Going about what?”

“Fighting Ra's al Ghul.  She says…” Oliver shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not really about bows and swords. He’s trying to turn the city against me, and that’s not the kind of problem I can get rid of with an arrow.”

Felicity had turned thoughtful.  “That’s true. It’s a smear campaign, and the more violence you unleash against it, the stronger it gets. Fighting Roz on his own turf will be much more effective.”

Felicity turned to her computer. “So Laurel thinks you should.. what? Release a YouTube video? Saying what?”

“I don’t.. really know. She started talking about influencer scores and view counts and I.. kind of zoned out.”

Felicity turned back and studied Oliver for a while. “Tell you what. Why don’t you, Laurel, and I get together and talk about it. Maybe over dinner?”

“I don’t think that’s a good..”

“Come on! It can’t be a date if Laurel’s there, too.” 

Oliver gave her a Look.  “I was going to say, I don’t think it’s a good idea for Oliver Queen to be planning The Arrow’s YouTube video in a public space.”

“Fine. Then come to my place, and I’ll make us dinner. Although… I wonder…”

\--------------------------

“Felicity Smoak, you are a terrible cook.”

“That’s why I stick to the easy stuff. Anyone can cook spaghetti.”

“I know. Which is what makes it so impressive that you have managed to screw up spaghetti.  Next time we meet, Laurel’s cooking.”

“Oliver Queen, I am not your personal chef. You want a high-quality meal, you learn to cook.”

Felicity broke in before the conversation could escalate further. “So, Laurel, Oliver tells me you have an idea for fighting Roz?”

Laurel dropped Oliver from her attention and turned to Felicity. “What we’re facing right now is a PR campaign. If you want to fight that, you can’t do it with weapons. You have to do it with PR.”

“Oliver’s broke, remember? We can’t afford a big PR campaign.”

“You don’t need a lot of money to run an effective PR campaign these days. All you need is someone with charisma - “ she pointed at Oliver, “- someone who’s good with internet stuff - “ she pointed to Felicity “- and someone who’s good with words.” Laurel pointed to herself. “Social media are just as effective, or even more effective, at spreading a message as the big news media are. _And_ I’m betting a man who was born 100 years ago isn’t totally hip to the interwebz.  He’ll have a harder time fighting that kind of strategy, I suspect.”

“So Oliver’s going to go on YouTube and say… what, exactly? ‘Hello, Internet, I am not a bad guy!’??”

“Yes. Basically.”  Laurel fixed both Oliver and Felicity, in turn, with her assistant-DA, don’t-even-think-about-questioning-me stare.  “We’re obviously going to phrase it more effectively than that. But that is the basic message we wish to communicate.”

“That’s crazy!” Oliver burst out. 

“I really don’t think it is” Laurel replied calmly.  “Oliver, Slade told me your identity to try to ruin you. You remember?”

Oliver closed his eyes, as if in pain. “Oh yes.”

“Instead he added a new member to your team.”

Oliver sat upright and stared at her curiously.

“Ollie, so far _every single_ person you’ve told about your quest has been supportive and proud. _Malcolm Merlyn_ thinks what you’re doing is noble, and he’s your arch-nemesis.”

“Merlyn... told you he thinks I’m noble?”

“No, but I’m the high-powered lawyer who reads faces for a living, and you’re the man who has to be hit with a brick to realize that a woman is interested in him.” Laurel exchanged exasperated looks with Felicity. “So it’s my assessment of Malcolm’s feelings we’ll be using, not yours.” 

“So you want me to stand in front of everyone in Starling and just tell them that I’m not a bad person? Laurel, that will never work. I don’t even believe that myself; you think I can convince anyone else?”

“All the world, actually.” Felicity corrected absently.  Oliver and Laurel looked at her. “It’s just…. you know. The internet is trans-national. There’s no means of or benefit to restricting it to a single city. Not that that’s relevant, to the discussion. But…”

Oliver gave Laurel his see-that-proves-my-point look.

Laurel gave Oliver her no-it-really-doesn’t look. “The reason Roz’s attacks are working are because the people of Starling don’t know anything about you. You’ve made the Arrow terrifying, and that makes sense.  But you can’t complain, then, when ordinary people are terrified by him. You need to give people a reason to trust you.”

“But I can’t _do_ that, Laurel! Why should they trust me?”

“The people of this city have a right to know what you’re fighting for!”

“Laurel, I can’t just tell total strangers ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but trust me, I’m a really nice guy.’” 

“I know that, Oliver! That’s why you have to show them…”

“Show them what, Laurel?” Oliver stood up, knocking over his chair. "Show them me? Show them this?" He turned his back and took a few steps away, took a few deep breaths. "They shouldn't trust me! I’m violent! I’m stubborn! I’m angry! I’m not a hero! I’m not..” 

“She’s right,” Felicity broke in. “Oliver.  She’s right.”

Oliver glared at Felicity for a few seconds, then looked away and clenched his jaw. “Explain.” he said shortly. 

“You don’t trust yourself, and you don’t think you’re a good person, fine. But this isn’t about you, Oliver. It’s about your mission. You fought your way across an ocean, you risked your life chasing down your father’s list, you came back to Starling after the earthquake, after Roz killed you, to _save this city_. You want to claim you don’t believe in yourself, that you can’t convince anyone to believe in you, fine. But you sure as hell believe in your mission.” 

Felicity stood up, and moved to stand in front of Oliver. “Oliver, these people have lost family, friends, homes, jobs, lives. And they don’t even know the full story.  All they see is high-powered people flying over their heads, deciding their futures, determining the course of their lives. They deserve to at least understand why.”

Oliver looked at Felicity, and then over at Laurel, and finally nodded, slightly.  “OK.”

Felicity took a deep breath. “There’s one more thing.” Both Oliver and Laurel looked at her. “I think you should do the videos as Oliver Queen.”

 


	4. The Filming

“People of Starling City!” The Arrow’s gravelly, electronic voice filled the foundry basement.

_That’s not going to help people feel less terrified_ , Laurel thought. _I wonder if Felicity can rig up a voice changer to make him sound more warm and inviting_. Then she brought her attention back to the set, to focus on Oliver’s / The Arrow’s words.

“For too long I have worked among you, fought for you, and yet you have known too little of me. Today that ends. The time has come to reveal…” Oliver broke off to glare at Digg and Roy, who were standing behind him making noises that sounded suspiciously like giggles.

“Naw, man, you’re good.” Digg said, smiling. “It’s good. Keep goin’.”

Oliver bent his head, and the half-smiles around the room faded as everyone realized that Oliver was sincerely hurt.

“It is a bit… melodramatic…” Laurel began apologetically.

“It’s not the script.” Felicity said. “It’s the hood.”

“Felicity…” Oliver said warningly.

“No, Oliver! You can’t do this. I know you want the world to work this way, but it doesn’t! You can’t talk about being honest and open while simultaneously hiding things! It didn’t work for Digg, it didn’t work for me, it didn’t work for Roy, it didn’t work for Laurel, and it won’t work here.”

“Felicity, we have had this discussion, and it has already been decided. The debate is over.”

“No, it’s not! You have to adjust your decisions based on new data. We’ve tried your way, and even your biggest fanboy can’t take you seriously.” Felicity gestured to Roy, who looked embarrassed but did not deny the description.

“You’re right.” Oliver stood up.  “It was a stupid idea, and it was never going to work.”  He walked away, to the exercise area, where he hit the punching bag once, hard, and then rested his forehead against it.

\------------

John looked around at everyone looking at him.   _Calming the Angry Oliver. I should add that to_ my _official job description_. He gave a nod to the room at large, and walked after Oliver.

“Oliver, man, talk to me.” he said quietly.

Oliver’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I can’t do it, Diggle. Felicity, Laurel, they think telling the truth will make everyone see me as some kind of hero.” Oliver finally moved, turning his head enough to look at John. “You and I both know that’s not true.”

John could hear the self-recrimination in Oliver’s voice. It echoed the self-recrimination he’d felt when he described his Afghanistan tours in the most simple, honest terms.

“Oliver, when I got back from Afghanistan, I went places where people lined up for blocks to tell me I was a hero. And there places where people lined up for blocks to tell me I was a baby-killer. I could’ve handled either one. But both at the same time -- being honored and vilified -- it was the contradiction that killed me.”

Throughout the story, Oliver had gradually stood up, and turned until he was looking at John full-on.  When he spoke, it was in a normal, if quiet, tone.

“So what did you do?”

“I finally realized it wasn’t really about me at all. It was about whoever was talking, and what they needed to believe.  Oliver, man, sometimes it isn’t about what’s true. Being a war hero - it’s not about celebrating the atrocities of war. It’s about giving people hope. You gotta admit - the people of this city could use some hope right now.”

“And you think I can help with that?” Oliver spoke loudly, now, scornfully. “Digg, I can’t give anyone hope. I can’t..” but he was again interrupted by a voice behind him. 

\------------

“Yes you can!” Roy, normally silent during Team Arrow policy discussions, looked surprised to have spoken.  But he continued.

“You told me once that you were a lot like me. That the world was broken, and I would burn up inside if I didn’t do anything to fix it.” Roy shook his head, searching for the right words.

“It was Oliver that told me that.  It was the Arrow who showed me how to fix it. The Arrow trained me, but Oliver taught me why I was fighting, and how to keep my soul while doing it.” Roy walked to the exercise area, hoping his face could show the sincerity his speech couldn’t express. “You did give me hope.  You still do.”

In the silence that followed, Felicity stepped forward. “We don’t have to decide right now. The video camera’s just making digital files -- it costs nothing to just experiment.  What if we try one, as Oliver? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll never mention it again.”

Oliver looked over at her.  Felicity smiled.

“And I promise I’ll delete the video so hard, not even the most dedicated computer supergenius could recover it.”

Oliver smiled slightly, but it was to Roy he spoke: “I don’t know what to say.”

Roy glanced at Digg, at Laurel, at Felicity, but found no hints in their expressions.  Looking back at Oliver, he just said the first thing that came to mind.

“I was just a kid in the Glades. I have friends whose homes burned down thanks to Holder’s defective smoke detectors. I have friends who went bankrupt when this foundry shut down. Everyone I know was a criminal, and has been punished for trying to feed their families, or to make John Nickels’ exorbitant rent prices.”  Roy took a deep breath. “You started this campaign for us.  You have been fighting, from the beginning, for _me_.” He stepped closer, and looked right into Oliver’s face. “And I still don’t know why. Don’t talk to the city.” He reached out his hand. “Just talk to me.”

Oliver clasped Roy’s arm, and looked at him for a long moment. Then he began to nod, slowly.

\-------------

This time, they set up the camera to show the entirety of the Arrow Cave.  Laurel took off Oliver’s mask and put it on the mannequin in the case. Felicity set up the camera’s feed to duplicate on her monitor, then positioned Roy behind the camera.

Oliver leaned against one of the tables, and gave Felicity a slight nod. No one moved as Felicity started the recording. After a long moment, Oliver finally spoke. 

“My name.. is Oliver Queen. And I am the Arrow.”

 

 


End file.
